‘Cruel’ woman accused of killing girl, 5, in scalding bath | UK | News

A woman has been charged with subjecting her two children to years of abuse and causing a five-year-old girl to die in a bathroom after being fatally scalded more than four decades ago. Janice Nix, 66, denies charges of involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty in the 1978 death of Andrea Bernard.

Isleworth Crown Court heard Andrea died in hospital about a month later after suffering severe scald injuries at a house in Thornton Heath on June 6, 1978.

At the time, his death was ruled an accident. However, the case was reopened decades later after his brother, Desmond Bernard, contacted police in 2022.

Prosecutors allege that Ms. Nix, who was a teenager at the time, had primary responsibility for caring for the children and repeatedly committed acts of violence while their father was away.

Opening the case, prosecutor Kerry Broome told jurors the children had been subjected to “serious, violent, cruel, degrading and unacceptable forms of punishment.”

The court heard allegations the children were beaten with a belt once or twice a week and that Ms Nix instructed them to bring the belt before hitting their arms and legs.

Jurors were also told of other alleged punishments, including forcing children to take cold baths, eating cat food from a dirty bowl and burning them with cigarettes.

Both children suffered abuse, with Desmond Bernard allegedly “getting the worst of it” while Andrea was also regularly beaten.

The prosecution described the situation as a “cycle of violence” in the home, and it was alleged that the punishments were carried out while their father, who worked as a chauffeur, was away.

Ms Nix, of Clapham, denies all the charges.